It was no easy feat. But on Saturday, Ralph Northam staked a claim in the annals of most surreal political press conferences, presiding over a 40-minute extravaganza that would do Mark Sanford and Jim McGreevey proud. Or something like that.

In a bid to salvage his job, the Democratic governor of Virginia denied he was one of the men dressed up as a Klansman and in blackface in a picture on his medical school yearbook page — after admitting the night before he was, in fact, in the photo.

But that was just the start. Here are six of the strangest moments of the presser.

BEAT IT

Northam said he “vividly” remembers dressing up in blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a talent show in 1984 and that this memory solidified his belief that he wasn’t photographed in his yearbook dressed in black face or in a Klan outfit. But when asked a question by reporter, he couldn’t remember the artist’s name and relied on his wife, Pam, to whisper his name.

“I dressed up in a ... what’s his name, the singer? Michael Jackson. Excuse me. That’s why I have Pam with me,” he said.

SHOE POLISH & MOONWALKS

In explaining how he used shoe polish to don blackface, Northam wondered if other people at the press conference had used the same technique.

“I used just a little bit of shoe polish to put on my cheeks and the reason I used a very little bit because – I don’t know if anyone’s ever tried that – you cannot get shoe polish off,” he said. “But it was a dance contest. I had always liked Michael Jackson. I actually won the contest because I had learned to do the Moonwalk.”

THE MYSTERY OF ‘COONMAN’

In a different yearbook at Virginia Military Institute, Northam was nicknamed “Coonman.” Why? He wasn’t quite sure, he said.

“My main nickname in high school and in college was ‘Goose’ because when my voice was changing, I would change an octave. There were two individuals, as best as I can recollect, at VMI they were a year ahead of me. They called me ‘Coonman’. I don’t know their motives or intent. I know who they are. That was the extent of that. And it ended up in the yearbook. And I regret that.”

LATE LEARNER

Northam said he only realized the Michael Jackson blackface was offensive during a conversation about blackface with a young campaign staffer.

“I have a very close friend who was my assistant during the campaign. He really did a good job of communicating to me why that's so offensive. And it was actually during that conversation, I said, ‘You know, Seth, I put some shoe polish on my face, I competed in a dance contest dressed up as Michael Jackson. And I said, ‘I assume you probably would think that's offensive.’ He said, ‘I would.’ And I said, ‘You know what, Seth, I appreciate you being open with me. I apologize for what I've done in the past. And I can promise you I'll never do that again in the future.’"

ON SECOND THOUGHT

Northam said he jumped the gun Friday when he admitted in writing he was in the KKK-blackface photo, which he believes was mistakenly placed on his yearbook page without his knowledge.

“I didn’t study it as well as I should. The first comment I made to the individual that showed it to me, I said this can’t be me.”

Why didn’t he say that from the start?

“My word is important to me and my first intention ... was to reach out and apologize. As you might imagine and understand, there are a lot of people that are hurt by this and I wanted to reach out to them. After I did that last night, I sat and looked at the picture. Today, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to classmates, my roommate and I am convinced that is not my picture.”

WAIT. WHAT?

A reporter asked Northam if he could still do the moonwalk. After pausing with an “ummm,” Northam sounded as if he was ready to answer the question before his wife, Pam, stopped him.

Correction, he's the DEMOCRAT Governor of Virginia. He won by accusing his opponent of being a white supremacist. He was elected by politicos and DC bureaucrats who have turned virginia into a blue state.

So interesting how the real racists turn out to be those who shout racism accusations the loudest. If he were a republican gov, this thread would be full of posts about evil conservatives.

Correction, he's the DEMOCRAT Governor of Virginia. He won by accusing his opponent of being a white supremacist. He was elected by politicos and DC bureaucrats who have turned virginia into a blue state.

So interesting how the real racists turn out to be those who shout racism accusations the loudest. If he were a republican gov, this thread would be full of posts about evil conservatives.

Virginia’s leadership crisis took an absurd turn Wednesday when the man who is second in line to become governor admitted he has worn blackface — even as Gov. Ralph Northam’s job is already on the line for the same thing and the man who is first in line to replace him is embroiled in a sex scandal.

The disastrous domino effect has now thrust the Republican state House speaker into the spotlight as the third in line for the top job — a man who only scored his post in a coin-toss election.

Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring on Wednesday issued a stunning statement admitting he wore brown makeup and a wig in 1980 to dress up as a black rapper when he was a University of Virginia student.

“In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song. It sounds ridiculous even now writing it,” Herring said.

“But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes — and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others — we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.”

The admission by the second in line to take over the statehouse came just days after he trashed Northam for much the same thing, declaring, “It is no longer possible for Gov. Northam to lead our commonwealth, and it is time for him to step down.”

Herring, who now claims his own blackface shame “has haunted me for decades,” did not offer to resign, saying instead that, “In the days ahead, honest conversations and discussions will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve as attorney general.”

“No matter where we go from here, I will say that from the bottom of my heart, I am deeply, deeply sorry for the pain that I cause with this revelation,” he continued.

Questions over the state’s leadership first arose last week over a photo on Northam’s page in his medical school yearbook showing a man in blackface and another in KKK garb — and the next in line for his job, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, was then hit with sex assault allegations.

Northam has denied he is either of the men in the racist image and suggested it was placed on the page due to an editorial mixup — but in doing so he claimed to have once put on blackface to mimic Michael Jackson.

A staffer from the yearbook, however, has come forward to insist the photos “were chosen by the individual student.”

“Anything is possible, but the probability is low unless someone was out to get him and was able to get access to all this stuff,” the yearbook’s page designer, Dr. William Elwood, told CNN Tuesday.

“All of this stuff was kept in a locked room, and the only time the room was unlocked was when somebody was in that room working on the yearbook.”

Adding to the succession shambles, the third in line for the Virginia governorship if Northam, Fairfax and Herring all step down is state House Speaker Kirk Cox — a Republican, whose party gained its one-seat control of the Virginia House of Delegates by sheer chance in 2017.

The election for the balance-tipping seat resulted in a tie — and the GOP candidate won when his name was drawn from a bowl.

Cox called on Northam to resign over the weekend — and on Wednesday said Herring “should adhere to the standard he has set for others or he loses credibility.”

He added that the allegations against Fairfax are “extremely serious” and said the governor, his victim and the people of Virginia “all deserve a full airing of the facts.”

Fairfax once again on Wednesday rejected the allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman named Vanessa Tyson in 2004 — right before Tyson came forward to speak out about the alleged incident.

Fairfax said he wanted to emphasize the need to “listen to women when they come forward with allegations of sexual assault,” even as he insisted his “encounter” with Tyson was “consensual.”

“I wish her no harm or humiliation, nor do I seek to denigrate her or diminish her voice. But I cannot agree with a description of events that I know is not true,” Fairfax said.

Tyson first approached the Washington Post in late 2017 after Fairfax was elected, and accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Fairfax claimed Wednesday that the “first indication” he had that she was “uncomfortable” with their interaction in Boston was when the paper approached him for comment on the story, which it ultimately did not publish at the time.

“Fifteen years ago, when I was an unmarried law student, I had a consensual encounter with the woman who made the allegation. At no time did she express to me any discomfort or concern about our interactions, neither during that encounter, nor during the months following it, when she stayed in touch with me, nor the past fifteen years,” he said in the statement.

“The first indication I had that she felt that anything that had happened between us fifteen years ago made her uncomfortable was when I was contacted by a national media organization shortly before my inauguration in 2018.”

Tyson came forward with her story on Wednesday — in which she describes an alleged sexual assault by Fairfax and insists she had no contact with him ever again — after hiring the law firm Katz, Marshall and Banks — the same outfit that represented Christine Blasey Ford in her sex assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Later Wednesday, the law firm that represented Kavanaugh, Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz, told a local NPR station it has been hired by Fairfax.

On Wednesday, another member of Virginia’s top democratic leadership was revealed to have worn black face when he was younger. That—combined with accusations of sexual assault against Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax—left open the possibility that a Republican could be left in power.

As pundits wondered how three top Democrats could be so profoundly compromised, a Florida Republican who dressed up in black face in high school refused to step down. On Tuesday, Florida Democratic Chair Terry Rizzo called on Sabatini to resign, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

However, Sabatini is refusing to resign.

“I don’t care what age you are, where you grew up, what political party you belong in, this is not where we belong,” his former opponent Cynthia Brown wrote. “In light of the Florida Secretary of State resigning for belonging to such a disgusting racial divide (and by the way the Democratic [governor] of VA should also resign, so I am being consistent on my position), my former opponent Sabatini should resign.”

“Anthony, you cannot represent ALL of the people of our district, just as the Florida Secretary of State decided he couldn’t,” she wrote. “Do what is right for once, step down and resign.”

The photo was mailed to the campaign of Brown, who is a democrat, last fall.

Sabatini defended himself, saying the photo had been decontextualized—that he and a black friend had dressed as each other as a prank. The friend backed up his claim.

But that didn’t appease his former opponent. “I understand the excuse she’s using,” Brown said. “But it’s hateful for so many people. …. It wasn’t the ‘80s, like the governor of Virginia’s defense. This was in the 2000s.”